Will KostakisReseñas

Very enjoyable book about a Greek - Australian boy, his Yiayia and her bucket list.

A book within a book about giving up everything for love and family. Harvey's father Ba has decided to leave his Dad and so they get on a plane to Sydney from Perth to stay at this grandmother's flat over a cafe in Sydney. Harvey is bisexual and discovers some things about his Ba he'd rather not know, re-connects with his great-grandmother ( only to find out she has Alzheimer's) and incurs the wrath of his feisty grandmother working at her cafe part-time. All the while trying to work out who he wants - is it Bradley the Grindr hook up or Isabelle, the barista at work?
Sotiris is 17 and has just had his first book published but instead of being on top of the world, a mistake means he loses the plot and it is not until he meet Jem that life begins to look up.
The reader then discovers that Sotiris ( who becomes Sam Baker for later version of the book) and Jem are actually Harvey's Ba and Dad, and Sotiris has left Jem because he is trying to write the story of them and can only do so when he is away from Jem.
The whole book itself is then semi-autobiographical of Will K ( i.e. gay Greek boy) so the reader can see bits of Will K's life in both the story of Harvey and Sotiris.
Was engrossing but somewhat unresolved at the end. I felt the book just stopped. Great writing and wonderful descriptions of the Sydney cafe life.

teen short fiction (queer love story during 2020 pandemic, set in Australia)

quick, easy read.

Was put off reading this book by the lame cover but its actually quite good - an older readers Percy Jackson. 16 year old Connor is hiding from his ex- best mate in an old boys school in Sydney when he stumbles on a trap door. Opening the door leads to a hidden room with a locked chest inside. While hiding and trying to work out if he can open the chest, a girl rushes in and does so and suddenly he is thrust into a world of living statues, gods and the end of the world scenarios - sound familiar?
Liked how Connor is gay so there's no romantic entanglement between him and the girl Sally (but later some with a "gorgeous boy" at a ball). A couple of twists that I didn't see coming and so I will be reading the second one to see how all the problems Connor faces are resolved. For older students due to language and mature content.½

The only thing that Miles, Harley and Ryan had in common was their unique friendships with Isaac. However, after an unfortunate incident, Isaac is dead. Now these three must figure out how each moves forward following the loss of each person's best friend but in doing so, realize that they still have each other. This was a wonderful story told from each of their perspectives.

Charming, funny and poignant, this was a delight. I loved Bill and his best friend Lucas and Bill's bumbling attempts at lurve were hilarious and entertaining. The loving relationships with Yiayia - the quintessential Greek grandmother and the "glue" holding the family together - were portrayed sympathetically and warmly and her directive that Bill fulfills her bucket list fills Bill with dread and seems impossible. I also loved the fact that the novel embraces the sexuality spectrum. AND, Hooray! Most of the adults are supportive of their children (a bit of a rarity in YA at the moment). I must admit, I wasn't drawn to this book (cover issues AGAIN!) but I'm so glad I read it.

One for mature readers containing drugs, sex and copious amounts of swearing. Nevertheless, it is a good story told from the perspective of three different boys who were all friends of another boy who died the day before the book commences. This boy Issac or Zac was the only common thing they had in their lives and now he has drowned as a result of over indulging in alcohol and substances supplied by one of the friends Harley who "knows a guy". The first part of the book deals with the Swimmer Ryan, who has a Mum as Head of English at his school, is a fantastic swimmer bound for the Olympics and is also gay. The only people who know Ryan is gay are the now deceased Isaac and Ryan's boyfriend at another school. Ryan's part of the story has little really to do with the dead boy and more to do with Ryan getting the guts up to "come out". (He is given an ultimatum by his boyfriend). There is a small teaser in Ryan helping the Nerd (Miles) to break into Isaac's locker before his parents collect his things and removes an envelope with a large wad of cash in it.
The second part is told from Harley's perspective as, The Rebel racked by guilt that the drugs he gave Isaac killed him, he goes home to his father's place (He is a boarder at their prestigious Catholic school) and basically only reappears for the funeral. Harley's guilty conscience causes him to start looking around to try and right some of the wrongs in the world. harley also looks at reassessing his relationship with his mother who has divorced his father and left Harley to boarding school. Oh and there's a girl too - his "best mate" who waits patiently for him every day he is away as they always get coffee before school....mmmm.
And finally there is Miles, quintessential Nerd and star academic who it turns out has been writing essays for other kids and selling them with Isaac being the middle man ( hence the envelope full of money.) But there is more to their relationship than that as Miles spends every lunchtime replaying the movies ( and especially the outakes) he made with Isaac in a now disused computer room.
Story moved very well from start to finish and I found all the characters and settings very believable ( having worked in a large all boys Catholic school myself). I particularly liked the Ryan part - most believable regarding a young man's angst and also being the son of a teacher and how you see teachers in a different light to other students.½

Sean is starting a new school in the middle of Grade 5 and things couldn't be worse, he thinks. The first person he talks to is the school's Grade 6 bad boy and he has one of the strictest teachers assigned to his class. On top of the fact he has moved from Western Australia to the east coast and left all his friends behind. His parents are happy but Sean is not. In an effort to make friends he lies about liking soccer and luckily he has forgotten his hat so has to sit in the shade "no hat, no play" area before he makes a fool of himself trying to play a game he knows NOTHING about! He thinks maybe he will forget his hat everyday!
Sean's parents, sensing he is very unhappy with the move, buy him a new mobile phone so he can contact his WA mates. But Sean flaunts the "no phones during school hours" rule and ends up with his phone confiscated. Will he take up the Grade 6 bad boy's boast that he can get the phone back?
This is a story about the need to fit in, loss and how to find your place in the world.

Book blurb: Life is made up of three parts: in the first third, you're embarrassed by your family; in the second, you make a family of your own; and in the end, you just embarrass the family you've made.That's how Billy's grandmother explains it, anyway. She's given him her bucket list (cue embarrassment), and now, it's his job to glue their family back together.No pressure or anything.Fixing his family's not going to be easy and Billy's not ready for change. But as he soon discovers, the first third has to end some time. And then what?It's a Greek tragedy waiting to happen.

Only the second novel from the author, this is both a funny and sad book about families and adolescence. The main character is 17 year old Billy Tsiolkas and he is part of a Greek-Australian family. He is the middle son, in a single-parent family and loves his idiosyncratic grandmother, Yiayia. She is a great character in the story and to roughly quote Yiayia’s outlook on life from the novel “Life is made of 3 parts: at first you are embarrassed by your family; in the second part you make your own family and thirdly you embarrass the family you’ve made.” Yiayia becomes ill and so she gives Billy her list of things to do, her bucket-list. It is a short list of three things but basically they amount to Billy getting his family, which has drifted apart, back together again. This is a big task and Billy has to deal with all sorts of situations as he tries to follow Yiayia’s instructions. There are many situations and characters that readers would identify with as they read this realistic portrayal of adolescent life in Australia today. I like they way Billy’s character described the Melbourne’s laneways, when he and his friend “Sticks” make a flying visit, to an address supplied by Yiayia.

A funny and poignant story about family. In the first part of life you're embarrassed by your family; in the second, you make a family of your own; and in the end, you just embarrass the family you've made. That's how Billy's grandmother explains it, anyway. She's given him her bucket list and now it's his job to glue their family back together.

great social commentary. if you like this you'll like The Gospel According to Larry

excellent social commentary/expose of reality televison. but why use lola in the title? the relationship wasn't explored enough to warrant this. and has anyone in the target market heard the kinks song lola?